


come back to me a while

by acidquill



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2012-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-22 22:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/614945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acidquill/pseuds/acidquill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The method might've needed some work, but Damon's okay with the results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	come back to me a while

**Author's Note:**

> missing scene for 1x17. allusions to Damon/Stefan and Katherine/Damon/Stefan. title from placebo. originally written Apr 16 2010.

He should have known by the smell. Damon’s not generally a… messy eater, certainly not one to leave the scent of blood trailing through the house like a beacon. He blames it on the night he’s had. It’s hard to distinguish _soccer mom A+_ in the midst of the mess from the losers he’s killed tonight.  
  
Instead, it takes him seeing the blood, the emptied husks of plastic on the table, the floor, before he realises what’s happened. What he’s going to find.  
  
Stefan shivers and twitches in the corner, mainlining Damon’s carefully cultivated stash like any human junkie. Damon finds himself elated and almost disappointed at the same time. He’s waited so long for his brother to get off that moral high horse, but he’s not sure this is the way he would’ve chosen to get Stefan back on real food.  
  
He grabs his brother by the arm, drags him up out of that ridiculous crouch. Stefan sways a little when he takes his hand away. Looks at Damon blankly, pupils blown so wide there isn’t any doubt that he’s _gone_.  
  
“Damon. I.”  
  
Stefan shudders and twitches. The flat, empty bags aren’t that hard to slip from between his fingers. He’s so damn jittery Damon’s surprised he was able to hold them at all, body shaking itself apart with the pure rush of life burning hot through his veins. It’s been a long time since Stefan’s had human blood. There’s nothing like it; living off animal blood cannot compare. Can’t even come close. Damon drags a thumb through the blood on Stefan’s chin, brings it to his mouth and sucks.  
  
Watches his brother’s eyes follow his every movement. He remembers when Stefan drank down humans like brandy. Tonight may have been two steps from a disaster, but it wasn’t all bad, not if this is what he gets to reap. Damon will never admit it, but he’s missed Stefan more than he thought possible. Stefan was always his, even when living under the same roof did nothing but widen the distance between them.  
  
This, this is Damon’s chance to have what never should have been taken from him. He won’t let Stefan go again so easily.  
  
“Come on brother, I think you’ve had enough for tonight.”  
  
He grips Stefan by the elbow, leads him upstairs; Stefan goes as docilely as a child. The lethargy of such a large feed is settling in, already starting to quiet the shakes as they walk. Dragging him down into that quiet, sated place where nothing matters except being happy and full. It’s been a long time – just over a century – since Damon’s seen his brother like this.  
  
Stefan rests his head on Damon’s shoulder as they go up, twists his fingers in Damon’s shirt and just _leans_. It’s enough that Damon knows he isn’t the only one who missed the way things used to be.  
  
Later, when he’s put Stefan to bed he goes back down to clear away the signs of his brother’s impromptu feast. He grabs the empty IV bags off the table, fishes one from under the couch. There are more than he expects, but Salvatores don’t do anything by halves. He frowns. At least half of them have been shredded, torn into with _teeth_. Damon’s been forced to do it himself when he was worn down and hurting; biting into the side of the bag because he’s just that desperate for what’s inside. It’s been a while since he’s been that bad off; he still grimaces at the remembered chemical-stale taste of the plastic on his tongue.  
  
Stefan must have been starving.  
  
 _Of course he was_. Damon remembers Stefan’s hunger, the way it changed him until even Katherine marveled at how his reserved – almost shy – little brother could become something so wild and terrible. There was never enough, not for Stefan.  
  
Those were glorious days. Damon wants them back.  
  
But Katherine is gone – run away, and Elena can never take her place, no matter how much she looks the part. No matter, he may not have _everything_ , but he has Stefan, and that’s a start. Damon hums to himself and tosses the empty IV bags into the trash. He grabs his keys, spins the ring around his finger. The fridge needs restocking and Stefan’s sure to wake up wanting a snack.  
  
Damon has no intention of letting him go hungry again.


End file.
